'Disappeared?!'
Bryan stared at the spot where the dark witch had just stood, and his face was filled with bewilderment, shock, and confusion.
'Was it Apparition or a Portkey?'
The thought flashed through Bryan's mind, but he immediately dismissed it himself.
It was well known that the Hogwarts castle was protected by many powerful enchantments. The instant transportation methods commonly used by wizards would not work here. The magical power core that protected the school came from the vast magic accumulated by Hogwarts Castle over the centuries. It was a force of an entirely different level. Even if the four founders were reborn, they probably would not be able to break through the defense system they had set up back then.
But the reality was that the mysterious dark witch, at the moment the Sectumsempra curse fell, glared maliciously at Bryan and then vanished into thin air with resentment.
Bryan's bewildered gaze circled around, hoping to find some clues, but the dark witch was indeed no longer here, and not just hiding again.
How could this be possible? Although they were in the Forbidden Forest, they had not breached the walls Hogwarts had set up in the forest. In theory, they were still within the school grounds.
Bryan no longer had the presence of mind to continue suppressing the Fiendfyre that had not yet been extinguished. He took a step forward and carefully approached the last place where the dark witch stood.
The previous Sectumsempra curse was not entirely fruitless. There was still a pool of crimson fresh blood on the ground, apparently left behind by the dark witch.
The sound of hurried footsteps could already be heard not far away. It seemed the professors from the school had finally arrived. Bryan stared at the blood on the ground that had not yet fully seeped into the soil with his face full of resentment.
A witch so powerful who harbored hatred towards him was lurking in the shadows watching him, yet he knew nothing about her identity. This made Bryan's heart ripple with a strong sense of unwillingness.
"You left a flaw," Bryan muttered under his breath. Before Professor McGonagall and Snape arrived, he took out a small vial and used magic to guide the blood on the ground into the vial. Then, he cast a Freezing Charm on the vial.
"I will find you."
Snape and McGonagall were not the first to arrive at the scene. Dumbledore had arrived ahead of them.
Suddenly, in the air permeated with the scorching heat and stench of burning, a dazzling crimson flame flashed. Albus Dumbledore, grasping the claw of his phoenix, appeared in mid-air without any warning. After appearing, he steadily descended from the air and landed firmly on the ground. His nimble and vigorous movements did not at all resemble a centenarian.
After landing, Dumbledore quickly surveyed the surroundings. When he saw the stunned Bryan standing amidst a patch of scorched earth, the unconscious Gryffindor Quidditch team members, and Bill still suspended in the air, his blue eyes behind the half-moon spectacles flashed with heart-stopping fury.
In the invisible world, the enraged Dumbledore was like a black hole with immense gravitational pull. The moment he appeared, the ocean of magic seemed to be influenced by the powerful tidal force of a full moon, surging and roaring, this sound was almost audible to the ear!
The first thing Dumbledore did was extinguish the Fiendfyre that Bryan had failed to completely suppress. With a casual wave of his wand, the ghastly Fiendfyre and the golden flames Bryan had summoned instantly vanished without a trace.
"Hand over your wand, Mr. Watson." Dumbledore's tone was very calm, yet filled with an unquestionable firmness.
Bryan did not want to hand over his wand. Everything that had happened tonight could be clearly explained. So, he hesitated for a moment, but that brief hesitation nearly brought great trouble upon himself.
Tonight, Bryan finally witnessed the unknown side of Albus Dumbledore, who was always kind and amiable to the young wizards of every house.
At this moment, Dumbledore was the legend who had personally defeated the first Dark Lord Grindelwald, the most powerful wizard of the present age who had suppressed the second Dark Lord for nearly thirty years, the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards whose reputation alone could contend with the entire Ministry of Magic.
To Dumbledore at this instant, not obeying his command was tantamount to resistance!
Without any feint or a word, Dumbledore simply raised his wand and cast a simple Disarming Charm.
However, with the incomparably forceful magic enhancing it, the space through which the spell light passed was directly ionized into hundreds of thin threads of lightning. Bryan only felt his scalp grow numb as his face suddenly paled.
The silvery black magic vortex that had easily handled Charlie and the others' attacks earlier instantly collapsed under the impact of the Disarming Charm's spell light without even lasting a fleeting moment!
However, this did not mean Bryan was going to be captured without resistance. He too had his own resolve.
In a flash, he swung his wand in a wide arc, directly pulling out from the void a gigantic metal shield with a surface engraved with golden serpents, its whole-body glinted with silver light as It blocked the path the spell had to take.
Boom! The deep, heavy sound was like the muffled thunder that resounded across the land on a winter night, instantly spread over mountains and rivers in an instant.
Bryan only felt countless stars flash before his eyes. His legs went soft as he staggered back several steps.
Dumbledore also seemed to not have expected that Bryan Watson could block his spell. A trace of astonishment flashed in his eyes, but it was only a trace.
"Stop, Headmaster Dumbledore!" Professors McGonagall and Snape had finally arrived. The moment they saw the devastated Forbidden Forest before them, Professor McGonagall's body suddenly swayed. She covered her mouth with both hands, her face full of disbelief.
Snape was a bit more resilient than her. He rushed straight towards Dumbledore who was preparing to wave his wand again and loudly shouted for him to stop, "Wait a moment, Dumbledore. There must be a misunderstanding here!"
Severus Snape strode forward, very boldly and rudely grasping Dumbledore's hand to stop him from acting further.
Then, the sweat-drenched Snape glanced around. When he saw Bill Weasley dangling upside down in mid-air from the Levicorpus spell, his panting suddenly quickened. "Liberacorpus."
He let Bill down. The moment the dizzy Bill Weasley landed, he comically lunged to the side, and his face was full of fear.
It was only after Professor McGonagall stepped past Snape and Dumbledore and spent some time gently comforting him that he finally came back to his senses and saw the current situation clearly.
"Professor McGonagall, I saw it. Someone used the Killing Curse just now. I swear I saw it clearly!"
The moment Bill's words, spoken in lingering fear, came out, it was as if a cold wind passed, leaving a deathly stillness.
Snape, tightly gripping Dumbledore's hand, could feel that the old, wrinkled wrist in his palm suddenly tightened, trying to break free of his control.
"Hand over your wand first, Bryan!" Snape, his face stiff, looked towards the lone Bryan Watson standing there ahead of Dumbledore. His tone was very resolute. "Trust me, Bryan. The misunderstanding can be explained. I believe you too!"
Tick, tick -
The sun hung high in the sky, its constant heat making the snow-covered ground glisten.
The sunlight reflecting into the hut made the dim little wooden house bright and clear. Under the eaves, the water droplets from the melting thick icicles gathered into a clear little puddle on the ground.
"...When I returned to the castle the next day and heard about this, and saw that part of the Forbidden Forest with my own eyes, you three can imagine how shocked I was!"
The roaring fire dried the water in the kettle. Hagrid hurriedly got up, pushed open the door with the scalding hot handle, and a crunching sound immediately came from outside. After a while, he came back in with the kettle filled with crushed ice. When he saw the three people in the room still had stiff expressions and slightly open mouths, Hagrid couldn't help but laugh.
"Looks like you really enjoyed this story?"
"Enjoyed?" Ron leaped up with a whoosh, his ears red. He loudly complained to Harry, "Why has no one in the family ever told me this? Oh well, maybe Bill and Charlie mentioned it, but I forgot. Don't look at me like that, Hermione. I was only six years old then. You wouldn't remember either...Anyway,"
Ron looked at Harry again and exclaimed breathlessly, "Can you believe it, Harry? He was only in his fifth year then, about the same age as Percy today. If someone told me Percy could go a round against Headmaster Dumbledore, I'd probably laugh at him until graduation!"
Harry grinned. He understood what Ron meant. "Has anyone ever done that, Hagrid?"
Harry's voice was a bit too shrill. He felt all the blood in his body boiling, as if he had fought Dumbledore himself. Although, he knew he would never stand on the opposite side of that respectable headmaster.
"Don't even think about it, Harry!"
Hagrid burst into laughter,
"No young wizard in fifth year could ever do that. Maybe someday, but not now. Besides, not just in Hogwarts, but in the entire British wizarding world, you won't find many who can match the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen!"
Hagrid's voice was full of pride, but you had to admit he was telling the truth.
"Be quiet, you two!" The equally excited Hermione loudly stopped Harry and Ron, who were a bit too agitated. Of course, she had to admit she was excited too. She had never imagined that the handsome, gentle young wizard she met in the hospital wing last night once had such a glorious "battle record"! "What happened next, Hagrid? You haven't finished your story!"
Hermione tightly clutched Harry's Invisibility Cloak and stared at Hagrid with her limpid cat-like eyes. "How did they deal with him - I mean, Mr. Bryan Watson?"
Harry and Ron also immediately quieted down, waiting eagerly for Hagrid to answer their doubts.
"Afterwards...Let me think," Hagrid fiddled with his bushy beard with his sausage-like fingers. "They seem to have given him detention for a whole term, and deducted two hundred points from Slytherin...However, Headmaster Dumbledore gave him four hundred points not long after, which almost let Slytherin lock in the House Cup early that year."
"Four hundred points!" Harry exclaimed. Last year, they protected the Philosopher's Stone from Quirrell and Voldemort. That was almost the most honorable thing he could claim since entering school, but Dumbledore only gave them one hundred and seventy points, of which a mere sixty were counted for him! "What was Headmaster Dumbledore thinking!"
Although there was nothing to compare, Harry still felt a bit unbalanced.
"That goes without saying, Harry!" Hermione raised an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth curving into a confident smile as if she had seen through everything. "They gave him detention for a term and deducted points because Mr. Watson violated school rules, entered the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, and attacked his fellow students with very powerful magic...Oh, although there was a reason for it. And he was given four hundred points because he saved all the young wizards of the Gryffindor team and Bill."
"Saved?" Ron's face was full of confusion. "Weren't they taken down by Watson?"
"Don't be silly, Ron," Ron's slowness was not unexpected. Hermione explained impatiently, "Think about it, Ron. If Mr. Watson hadn't gone into the Forbidden Forest that night, who exactly would have encountered that mysterious dark witch?"
Hiss! Ron suddenly sucked in a breath, his eyes widening as he realized, "It's Charlie and all the members of the Gryffindor team at that time!"
Hermione nodded, satisfaction evident in her tone. "I'm glad you finally caught on, Ron. With Bill's help, they saved eight lives. That's worth 400 points!"
"So that is to say, Hagrid, Dumbledore confirmed there really was a dark witch who broke into Hogwarts? Did he catch that person?"
Harry was more alert than Ron and Hermione. He suddenly thought of this point.
"Yeah, he confirmed it." Speaking of this, Hagrid lost his smile, and his expression turned solemn.
"That night, after Bill woke up, the misunderstanding was quickly explained. He told Dumbledore it was not Bryan who released the Killing Curse, but the dark witch lurking in the shadows. Dumbledore personally checked every spell Watson's wand had cast that night and verified this."
"Afterward, Headmaster Dumbledore meticulously examined the battleground. You know, Harry, someone like Headmaster Dumbledore can almost piece together the entire story of that battle. But unfortunately, despite his extensive search, he couldn't find that audacious dark wizard. It kept me awake for nearly two months, patrolling the Forbidden Forest every night."
Hagrid blinked and said to the three who had realized the seriousness of the matter,
"This matter caused quite a stir at the time. The Ministry of Magic also dispatched elite Aurors to search the Forbidden Forest, but it similarly came to nothing. To curb the spread of panic, Dumbledore and Fudge both decided to suppress the dissemination of this attack as much as possible. That's also why most people didn't hear much about this matter later."
The atmosphere turned solemn. Harry and Ron looked at each other, both speculating whether that dark witch might be another one of Voldemort's minions, like Quirrell...
"So, I'm telling you, Ron, you must have heard of him - " Hagrid said with a grin.
"Professor Snape released Bryan Watson during the second-year Quidditch final. Before that, he had been in Snape's office every night and every weekend, serving detention. Charlie's Gryffindor team was quite strong, with a chance of winning consecutive championships. But when Snape let Bryan Watson onto the field, well, you can imagine what happened then. Seriously, Henry and Grace, The two of them didn't just mount their brooms and escape; they truly lived up to Gryffindor's name."
"It seems Slytherin occasionally produces remarkable individuals."
Ron mumbled quietly.
"There have been plenty of notable Slytherin wizards, Ron,"
Hagrid laughed. He glanced at the sun outside and realized it was getting late—it was time to prepare lunch.
"The story is finished, you three. Would you like to join me for lunch?"
"Oh!"
Hermione snapped out of her daze, horrified,
"Damn it, Madam Pomfrey, I completely forgot about the time!"
She put on the invisibility cloak, revealing only her head,
"Next time, Hagrid, I'll have to stay at the hospital wing!"
With that, she hurriedly rushed out. Harry and Ron were more inclined towards the food at the school, so they quickly got up to follow Hermione.
"Oh, right."
Hagrid, slightly disappointed, suddenly remembered something and called out to Harry's retreating figure,
"You haven't told me why you were asking about Watson!"
"Mr. Watson has returned to Hogwarts!"
Harry didn't turn back, just waving his hand above his head, "He's now the investigator for the Chamber of Secrets attack!"
Clang, clatter!
Startled, Hagrid stumbled against the hut's door, and the room shook violently from the impact. The melted snow on the roof cascaded down, burying him momentarily.
"The investigator from the Ministry of Magic for the Chamber of Secrets?"
Hagrid's face drained of color as he leaned against the doorframe, whispering to himself,
"That can't be. Dumbledore... oh no, I need to figure this out!"
After a while, Hagrid slammed the door shut and marched towards the castle, without a glance back, accompanied by Fang's barking.